Contemporary Dance Program - Faculty
Jennifer Adam
Ballet
Jennifer Adam began dancing at the age of ten under Cornelia Samson in Rochester, Michigan and spent most summers at the School of American Ballet and the Royal Danish Academy. At the age of sixteen Jennifer trained for three years at the School of American Ballet, during this time she apprenticed with American Ballet Theater and performed several Balanchine ballets in the annual workshop. She went on to dance professionally for seven years with Atlanta Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet. Upon retiring from performing, Jennifer earned a B.S. in ballet with a merit scholarship from the Indiana University School of Music, and an M.F.A. in dance with a teaching fellowship at the University of Michigan.
Emily Bogard
Pilates certification
Emily Bogard, the founder and director of the Pilates Annex, is a postural alignment specialist trained in Stott's Conditioning Pilates with certifications from the PhysicalMind Institute and Kane School of Core Integration. She is also a certified Yamuna Body Rolling instructor and holds a BS and MS in Physical Education/Dance from Indiana University. She has been involved in the field of integrated movement for the past 25 years. Drawing from her studies of Pilates, the Alexander Technique and the Body-Mind Centering principles of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Emily teaches an approach to Pilates and postural alignment that enables people to enjoy a physical freedom based on spinal stability and mobility.
Rachel Britton
Modern dance technique for non-majors, personal training for majors
Rachel Britton is a doctoral student at Indiana University where she is pursuing her Ph.D. in Human Performance with a Specialization in Motor Control and Neuroscience. She has a Master of Science degree in Kinesiology from Indiana University. She has worked as an Exercise Specialist in Health and Wellness Education at the Indiana University Health Center. Rachel is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine, and the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science and is an American Council on Exercise certified personal trainer. In addition to teaching Rachel also does research on spinal plasticity and how spinal circuits modulate information to coordinate the complex voluntary muscle actions required for elite levels of dance performance.
Selene Carter
History, improvisation, movement analysis, pedagogy
Selene Carter received her MFA in dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. As a Chicago dance artist she received a Ruth Page Award, the city’s highest honor in dance, for her improvisational work, as well as funding from city agencies and private foundations. For five years she was co-director of Links Hall where she produced workshops in alternative dance and improvisation, creating a forum for post-modern and experimental dance in Chicago. She has taught improvisation and dance studies at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, the University of Chicago and the Chicago Academy of the Arts. She presented her research on Lester Horton at the Society of Dance History Scholars Annual Conference in June 2009, and in July began working towards her certification in Bill Evans’ Laban Based Modern Dance Technique.
Sherilyn Nott Foley
Jazz, tap, repertory, Irish step dance
Sherilyn Foley's body of work includes an extensive background in the arts, as an educator, professional dancer, choreographer, artistic director, and adjudicator. She tours and teaches master classes at universities, schools, studios, and professional organizations across the country. Recently, Ms. Foley was awarded an Indiana Arts Commission Grant to present a youth dance outreach program. She has also been nominated for a Student Choice Award at IU and is a former member of IUPUI’s Dance Faculty, where she was named Instructor of the Year. Sherilyn continues to dance and choreograph professionally, working in theatre, dance companies, television, industrial shows, commercials, and video work. She has choreographed for PBS’s award-winning children’s programming. Sherilyn is choreographer of Algy/Star Styled dance Costumes, presenting their current line in a Fashion Show that can now be seen Algy’s and CRU Dance’s website
Joseph Galvin
Resident accompanist, musical resources for dancers
Joseph Galvin received a bachelor’s degree in "Performance of Percussion Instruments from Diverse Cultures" from Indiana University and also his Masters in percussion from the Jacob's School of Music. He has accompanied several prominent guest dance companies such as Urban Bush Women, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Bill Evans, Paschal Younge, Ben Munisteri, The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, David Parsons, and the Martha Graham Company, and played at a variety of festivals and concerts including Lotus Fest and Lotus Blossoms, the Broad Ripple Art Fair, and with ORI': the Indy Jazz Fest 2007.
Gwendolyn Hamm, Undergraduate Coordinator, Department of Kinesiology
Modern dance technique, pedagogy
Gwendolyn Hamm is an Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of Kinesiology. She currently teaches Modern Technique I, a secondary dance pedagogy course, and a dance methods and activities course for Physical Education majors. Ms. Hamm has presented at state, regional and national conferences, including the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, National Dance Education Organization, the American College Dance Festival (Mid-Atlantic Region) and the Bill Evans Summer Institute of Dance. Additionally, Professor Hamm has been the recipient of grants and awards, including the IUB New Frontiers Visiting Visionary Grant, the HPER Cross-Disciplinary Research Program Grant, and most recently, the NEA American Masterpieces Dance – College Component, which she co-wrote with Selene Carter.
Jeffrey Hass
Dance technology
Jeffrey Hass is currently Associate Professor of Composition at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he serves as the Director of the Center for Electronic and Computer Music (CECM). He previously taught music theory and composition on the faculties of Rutgers University and the Interlochen Center for the Arts. His compositions have been premiered by the Louisville Orchestra, Memphis Symphony and the Concordia Chamber Orchestra, and have had performances at Lincoln Center, and at national conferences of the Society of Composers, International Computer Music Conference, International Double Reed Society, SEAMUS, and the College Music Society. His orchestral works have won several national competitions and are published by MMB Music Publishers, St. Louis and Ludwig Music Publishers, Cleveland.
George Pinney, Head of Acting and Directing
Musical theatre, stage movement
George Pinney, a Professor of Theatre and Drama, has directed and or choreographed over 100 productions including Broadway, West End of London, regional and university theatres as well national and international tours. Nominated for 2001 Tony Award and National Broadway Theatre Award in choreography for BLAST! George received a 2001 Emmy Award for outstanding choreography for the PBS Broadcast of BLAST! Recognized as a master teacher George was awarded the prestigious Friederich Herman Lieber Award for Distinguished Teaching and was selected for membership in the honorary Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching. George was also awarded four IU Board of Trustees Awards for Teaching Excellence. At IU George is Head of the BFA in Musical Theatre in the Department of Theatre and Drama.
Iris Rosa, Director, African American Dance
African American Dance Company, Dance in the African Diaspora, Black Dance History
Iris Rosa is a Professor at Indiana University, Bloomington in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, and the Director of the Indiana University African American Dance Company. Her specializations are teaching and choreography from the perspective of the African American and African Diaspora. Ms. Rosa has worked, studied and taught with the Ghana Dance Ensemble of Ghana, West Africa and has studied dance in Puerto Rico and in Havana, Matanzas and Guantanamo, Cuba. She has been a choreographer for musicals at the Phoenix Theatre, Civic Theatre, American Cabaret Theatre and Theatre on the Square. She has also worked on international and community projects at the historical Madame Walker Theatre Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ms. Rosa is also the director of Sancocho: Music and Dance College, a performing ensemble which focuses research on African derived music and dance from the Caribbean and Latin America and Seda Negra/Black Silk Dance Company.
Elizabeth Limons Shea, Coordinator, IU Contemporary Dance Program
Modern dance technique, composition, choreography, repertory
Liz Shea, Clinical Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Indiana University Contemporary Dance program, has worked extensively in the field of dance education and as a modern dance choreographer. Her choreography has been successfully adjudicated by the National Dance Association, the American College Dance Festival Association, and Regional Dance America. Liz has also received numerous grants and commissions to create dance works, most recently from The Indiana Arts Council and the New Frontiers in the Arts and Humanities Program at Indiana University. Ms. Shea holds both a BS and MS from Penn State University, where she also served on the faculty. She has additionally taught/performed/presented choreography at Florida State University, Florida A&M University, The Tallahassee Ballet, and Apalachee Tapestry Magnet School for the Arts. Liz was also an Artist-in-Residence for the State of Florida, and in May of 2006, traveled to China, teaching master classes and presenting choreography in Hong Kong, Chengdu, Shanghai, and Beijing. Most recently, Liz served as a guest teacher in modern dance at Regional Dance America’s Mid-States Festival and for the American College Dance Festival East Central Region.
Susannah Windell
Modern dance technique for non-majors, Pilates, IU Pre-College Contemporary Dance Program Coordinator
Susannah Windell (Susie) graduated with distinction in 1989 from Indiana University with a B.S. in Dance and Exercise Science. She has danced, taught, and choreographed professionally for nearly 20 years with companies from Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Ann Arbor, and Bloomington. In 2003 she was awarded a teaching fellowship from the University of Michigan and in 2005 she received her MFA in Dance with an emphasis on choreography. Susannah taught Jazz, Modern, and Ballet for three years as an adjunct faculty member at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, California. She has been a certified personal trainer since 1989 and certified Pilates instructor since 1999. In 2007, Susannah became a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the NSCA.
Roberta Wong
Ballet and modern dance technique
Roberta Wong was trained in ballet in Davis and Sacramento, CA with Haneke Lohse, Marguerite Phares, and Katie Heil. She garnered both Commended and Highly Commended in the Royal Academy of Dance Student Examinations led by then president, Dame Margot Fonteyn. Roberta attended the San Francisco Ballet, Marin Ballet and Boston Ballet summer program, and was an apprentice with the Boston Ballet. She danced professionally with the Indianapolis Ballet Theatre, completed a B.S. in Biology from Butler University, then joined Dance Kaleidoscope (DK) and became company teacher and rehearsal director. Other training has included Limon West and Paul Taylor West workshops, the Mark Morris workshop. She is the recipient of Creative Renewal grants from the Arts Council of Indianapolis in both 1999 and 2009 (traveling to China and the UK), as well as an Individual Artist Program grant from the Indiana Arts Commission for continuing study at the Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance. She has taught and choreographed extensively in the Indianapolis area and was faculty and dance coordinator for Anderson University. She is also currently adjunct faculty at Butler University and Jordan Academy of Dance.
Justin Zuschlag
Modern technique, dance production
Justin Zuschlag has danced professionally in the Green Shows at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and with Dance Kaleidoscope, under the direction of David Hochoy. Justin serves as the director of IU Contemporary Dance Program’s summer intensive for high school students. He has taught and performed at ACDFA’s Midwest conferences in Akron, OH, and Kalamazoo, MI. He holds a B.S. in Ballet Performance and English, as well as a M.A. in Arts Administration (both from Indiana University, Bloomington). He has performed leading roles in the works of Paul Taylor, Marius Petipa, Victor Glosky, Bill Evans, George Balanchine and Gerald Arpino. Justin produced a full-length concert, Piece by Piece: A Collection of Dances, in March, 2009 at the John Waldron Arts Center. His choreography has been performed by New Opera St. Louis, the Indianapolis School of Ballet, and Kenyetta Dance Company. Justin is also a certified yoga instructor.
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